Meghalaya hands over bid documents to host National Games

Shillong, June 21 (IANS) Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Tuesday handed over the bid documents to the Meghalaya State Olympic Association (MSOA) to start the bidding process for hosting the National Games 2022.

Besides the bid documents, the Chief Minister on behalf of the state government also handed over a cheque of Rs.50 lakh. Letters of support from both the state government and leader of opposition were given to the MSOA for placing the bid at a brief function held at the state convention centre here.

"The meeting was to carry forward the mission of the state to host the National Games 2022 as it would be a befitting tribute to the state and the people to mark the 50th year of statehood and appeal to all the people of the state to come together to achieve the shared objective with utmost seriousness and a sense of ownership," Sangma said.

Observing that there would be huge requirement for infrastructure building for not only hosting 32 Olympic and eight non-Olympic disciplines but also for the hospitality sector, Sangma said there were also many local potential investors in the state who could be roped in for creating the infrastructure.

"Every infrastructure created would be used to move further and open up diverse opportunities for the people of the state," he added.

The Chief Minister also stressed the need for an out of the box approach to design the Games Village in such a way to create a product to benefit the people of the state.

Expressing his support for the bid, leader of the opposition, Donkupar Roy, stressed the need to go forward with the involvement of all the people of the state with seriousness and transparency.

Sports minister Zenith Sangma said the tremendous experience and credibility earned by the state in hosting the South Asian Games had led to the decision of the state government to bid for the National Games.

Earlier this year, Meghalaya had co-hosted the South Asian Games with its neighbouring state Assam.